The effect of two walking programs in water and land on balance indices of overweight elderly: A Randomized Controlled Study

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Msc. in sports sciences, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Raja University of Ghazvin, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Raja University of Ghazvin, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Amirkabir University of Technology, Iran

10.22084/rsr.2023.27241.1676

Abstract

Background and Aim: To investigate and compare two water and land walking programs on the balance index of overweight elderly people.
Methods: The current research was quasi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design. The statistical population included 64 seniors available in Gilan province aged 65 to 75 years. By Cochran's test, the statistical sample consisted of 54 people, and they were divided into three groups: 1. Walking in water (18 people), 2. Walking on land, 3. Control (18 people). Correlated t-test and two-way analysis of variance were evaluated to evaluate the values of overall balance, medial-lateral balance, and anterior-posterior balance in the pre-test and post-test in Spss version 25 software.
Results: In the water walking group, the overall balance index had a mean difference of 0.22 and t value (3.592), the medial-lateral balance index (frontal) had a mean difference of 0.18 and t value (3.633), the anterior-posterior index value (sagittal) had a mean difference of 0.19 and the t value (3.501) was at a significant level (0.05). Also, in the dry walking group, the overall balance index had a mean difference of 0.11 and t value (2.412), the frontal balance had a mean difference of 0.14 and t value (3.015), the sagittal balance had a mean difference of (0.06) and t value (2.006) and the significance level was P<0.05.
Conclusion: Walking exercises on land and walking exercises in water have been associated with improving overall, anterior-posterior, and medial-lateral balance in overweight elderly people.

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